Chicago, Ill. — October 22, 2024: Prospect Partners (“Prospect”), a leading private equity firm investing in pre-middle market companies, announced that it has sold its interest in Central States HVAC Solutions, Inc. and its operating companies Fontanesi & Kann, Architectural Building Components and Bio-Grid (“Central States” or the “Company”) to Impact Climate Technologies. Joe Fontanesi, CEO, will continue to lead the three Central States HVAC Solutions companies as President. Prospect initially recapitalized the Ferndale, MI-based business alongside management in October 2022.
Central States is a leading provider of products and services for custom, highly engineered HVAC systems, primarily serving the commercial, industrial, healthcare, and higher education end markets. The Company offers engineering expertise and exclusive access to blue-chip brands through all phases of HVAC equipment’s useful life, from initial installation to repair, maintenance, and eventual replacement, in addition to providing re-occurring electrical and controls integration services to its core customer base.
“Central States’ CEO, Joe Fontanesi, is an innovative CEO with an unparalleled reputation in his markets,” said Brett Holcomb, Partner at Prospect Partners. “Together, we not only tripled the size of the business since our investment, but also invested significantly into the Company’s management team and infrastructure utilizing our Entrepreneur Support System. As such, we are excited to watch Central States’ continued success within the Impact Climate Technologies organization.”
Founded in 1957, the Company began supplying air distribution HVAC equipment and has since expanded to offer applied equipment and hydronics HVAC equipment in addition to electrical and controls integration services in its core Michigan and Ohio markets. Through the Fontanesi & Kann, Architectural Building Components, and Bio-Grid brands, the Company supports hundreds of long-standing customers as a one-stop shop with its comprehensive HVAC and related solutions offerings.
“Prospect Partners was a fantastic partner,” said Joe Fontanesi. “They helped us evolve into a leading HVAC distribution and specialty services platform, overseeing investments in our team and systems during a high growth period. They really understand how to partner with entrepreneurs to build leading middle-market platforms.”
DLA Piper LLP provided legal counsel to the Company in this transaction.
About Prospect Partners
Founded in 1998, Prospect Partners is an active investor and builder of pre-middle market companies. Prospect focuses on partnering with management teams to complete recapitalizations, build-ups, carve-outs, and generational transitions. The Prospect team brings deep domain expertise building high potential companies through both operational improvements and acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.prospect-partners.com.